“I went and met him for lunch,” she said. “And he said, ‘I’ve been asked to do Doctor Who, I don’t know if I should.’ I said, ‘Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.’ And he did! In the end, we ended up doing a scene together, and I was just so pleased.”
Walsh played Graham O’Brien opposite Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor for two seasons before departing the show in the 2021 special “Revolution of the Daleks”. He later returned for 2022 special “The Power of the Doctor,” the finale installment that served as a swan song for both Whittaker and then-outgoing showrunner Chris Chibnall.
The episode saw Langford and Walsh’s characters cross paths during a (hilariously long overdue) gathering of a support group for former companions, which featured appearances by multiple former Who stars, including William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka), and Sophie Aldred (Ace).
But although we haven’t seen Walsh onscreen since, Langford has returned for multiple guest spots in recent seasons. Mel, now a UNIT employee, first popped up again during the 60th anniversary specials with David Tennant, and most recently appeared in the two-part season 15 finale “Wish World” and “The Reality War”.
According to Langford, she was “delighted” when she first received the call from Chibnall asking her to reprise her role, and gave substantial consideration to the idea of the person that the Mel would have grown into over the years.
“At that point I thought, ‘Well, I wonder what Mel would be,’” she said. “A lot calmer. A lot calmer, and much more into her computers, yet very discreet about the work that she does. She had such a loyalty to the Doctor. It was really great that I had been able to still be in touch with [Mel], to think, ‘I wonder where she’s been and what she’s done, and how she has kept her connection with the Doctor.’”
